The UK's leading respiratory conference for clinicians working primary, community and integrated care returns to Telford in September 2024. Save the date 19th - 21st September 2024 Telford International Centre Save the dates to your calendar. Learn from the experts. Be inspired. Take back best practice.

As many as one-in-two healthcare attendances for breathing difficulties in Bradford could be triggered by breaches in daily air pollution limits, new research has uncovered.  The data-driven study, which analysed more than 120,000 patients over four years, has revealed that the impact of pungent gases on health care use is far greater than previously reported.

A new report is showcasing the impact of a national AHSN Network programme to improve access to FeNO testing for asthma diagnosis. Fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) tests are simple, non-invasive tests to measure the amount of nitric oxide in an exhaled breath – a biomarker for airway inflammation. FeNO testing can improve patient care by contributing to a faster and more effective asthma diagnosis, alongside a clinical history and other tests, and can be used to monitor patient response to treatments.

Dr Iain Small (Chair of the Primary Care Respiratory Society 2008 – 2013) (Born 11/02/1961 Died 20/06/2023) Iain was a major contributor to PCRS over 20 years and was known to many in the PCRS family as well as the wider respiratory world – a previous chair of PCRS, chair of the education committee and editor of the Primary Care Respiratory Update he will be sadly missed in our organisation.

Patients will be empowered to choose where they receive their NHS care under new plans to help cut waiting lists, one of the Prime Minister’s five priorities. A letter issued by the NHS today to local areas will require patients to be offered choice when clinically appropriate.

This week the BBC reported on the results of laboratory tests conducted on vapes confiscated from a school in Kidderminster. The results showed shockingly high levels of heavy metals in the vape liquids including lead that can affect central nervous system and brain development in children. High levels of carbonyls, chemicals found in cigarette smoke, were also detected. Of particular concern was that some of the vapes were in fact legally available while other illegal vapes were disguised as ‘highlighter pens’.